Paul Smith

Someone local to me had asked me to tidy up his new purchase, at this point in time I had no idea what I was going to see.

He wasn't wasn't looking for 100% correction on the paint, something I wouldn't recommend on a daily driver anyway. In my opinion it should be left for show cars as the maintenance on them is just too much work for the average owner.

The paint wasn't heavily swirled and there were very few random deep scratches. I knew these would require a good few of hours of correction as AUDI paint has a reputation for being rock solid. I was only carrying out a single stage machine polish so I could only concentrate on removing the swirls and at best, the light scratches.

My partner for the day -

The Accord (my car) looked tiny in the shadow of one of AUDI's finest-

Time to get the car power washed down and get some snow foam on-

Two bucket method, lambs wool mitt and some Britemax Clean Max shampoo -

Time to get it inside, dried down, get some light on it and start claying-

I was using 3M blue for the first time, quite sticky and aggressive, but this is what I wanted for this car-

Time to get the car all taped up to protect the silver trim and any other edges that could catch the pad-

So, on with the polishing, in this case 3M Ultrafina SE ( low cut but high gloss )-

Tyres shined, wheels waxed and some Glass Polish on those tinted windows-

Finally, some Extra Gloss Protection that I allow to cure for 30-45 minutes before applying a coat of Collinite 476.

Time for a bit of show and shine -

Thanks for looking :wink:

Yeah, already invested in a set of finger-less gloves.

Got a nice Nissan to do in the next couple of weeks that Ill post up, another 4 door ?

Evening all,

Not a 350Z or a Nissan for that matter, but a performance saloon that holds a special place in my heart, the Accord Type R.

Got a PM from a fellow member on AccordR.org asking if I'd carry out some paint correction on his new purchase. A couple of weeks later I had a Pirates Black ATR sat back in my garage.

I won't apologise for the lack of pictures. The temperature on the day was hovering around 1 degrees and there was a strong wind blowing through that car park so I was in no mood to be taking photogenic snaps for everyone else to enjoy.

The owner wanted the paint brought back to a respectable finish, good enough for the odd meet and bring back the purple to the paint.

The car had roughly 130,000 miles on the clock, and when I first saw the car up at Knockhill I thought the paint looked OK but it wasn't until a good snow foam and over an hour with the spray and clay bar that I saw how bad it really was :-(

So the usual list was carried out -

*Full car washed using two bucket method and Meguiars shampoo plus.

*Front, sides and rear of car de-tarred using AS Tardis.

*Full car re-washed again.

*Bodywork clayed using Meguairs Medium clay bar.

*Full Body correction carried out using Porter Cable DA Polisher, 3M compounding pad and Megs Ultra Cut Compound #105.

*Full car then polished using 3M Perfect IT III Ultrafine SE Polish and 3M Perfect IT III SE Polishing Pad.

*Bodywork then sealed AG Extra Gloss Protection.

*A coat of Collinite No.915 Marque D'Elegance Car Wax then applied.

Before claying -

After claying-

Some shots after compound-

Some shots after polish-

Owner had a new set of powder coated wheels to fit to the car so no time was spent cleaning the wheels and I was asked not to valet it either. It didn't make for the best of pictures but the paint came out good and a good coat of what I like to call "winter wax" should keep the owner happy until the better weather arrives.

Good to be back in Accord Type R again.

Haven't got round to posting any of my own pictures up here yet but I came across this on one of the photography sites I frequent . . . thought I'd share it here

I was responsibile for the Accord Type R owners club calendar 3 years on the trot so I know how much time and effort goes into it as well as trying to keep the members happy.

Shame I couldn't have submitted any pictures though, there is always next year.

Good luck with the final product

Liking the pic in ur avatar as well get some of ur photography up in other cars we like pics here

I'll place some pictures up in another thread for you

Hi Paul great work on the car, but I'm interested in your photos, what camera and settings did you use?

Well done mate.

Ill get back to you on that one mate.

Ahh makes sense now. Il look into it more in spring once it warms up. With the car being non metallic white the swirls aren't that noticeable but I know they're there

 

Liking the pic in ur avatar as well get some of ur photography up in other cars we like pics here

Ill PM you tonight mate.

Always willing to assist a fellow Scot.

Looks great , cool pics

Many thanks

 

What's the difference between a rotary and a DA? Don't even know what DA stands for

 

I always feel a picture is better than words

Both of them used to eliminate and or remove paint defects like this -

Pics are fab. Car's lovely. She looks real mean and moody. On the iPhone so can't add lots of smiley faces!!!!

Glad you're happy with it.

You know where I am if she needs any more TLC in the future.

Afternoon all,

Introduced myself recently as I had been drafted in to spend some time on "Cholula" as she was in need of some paint correction and a good valet to bring her back up to standard.

Although my main interest is now in photography, I have been detailing and valeting for years now. Despite having my camera with me, I neglected to take many "before" shots to turn this into an in depth detailing thread so I do apologise. You won’t find any pictures of an expensive tub of polish sitting on a well folded micro-fibre cloth here I'm afraid

Anyway, I'll list what products were used along wit some description which I hope will be of some interest to you all.

It was obvious to me that "Cholula" had seen some paint correction before but it looked like it had been caried out using a very rough compound on an old hard pad . . . not nice

The car had been taken to a local jet wash shortly before I arrived as there is no water supply in the secure underground car park where the car is kept so there was no snow foaming on this occasion

• Full car washed using two bucket method and Meguiars shampoo plus.
  Front, sides and rear of car de-tarred using AS Tardis.
  Full car re-washed again.
  Bodywork and glass clayed using Meguairs Medium clay bar and Last Touch as lubricant.
  Full Body correction carried out using Porter Cable DA Polisher, 3M compounding pad and Megs Ultra Cut Compound #105.
  Full car then polished using Megs Ultra Finishing polish #205 and 3M Perfect IT III polishing pad.
  Bodywork then sealed AG Extra Gloss Protection.
  A coat of Collinite No.915 Marque D'Elegance Car Wax then applied.
  Tyres dressed with AS HighStyle.
  Exhaust tip de tarred using Tardis then metal wool and polished with AG Metal Polish
  Glass cleaned and treated with AG Car Glass Polish.
  Brake calipers de greased, brushed and polished.
  Dashboard cleaned and treated with AG HighStyle.
  Leather cleansed and fed using Auto Glym leather cleaner and Conditioner.
  Seats cleaned with AG Leather Cleaner and treated with AG Leather Car Cream
  Full car brushed and hoovered

Some light scratching.

How the clay bar looked after doing roof -

How the clay bar looked after doing front bumper-

I've deliberatley adjusted the camera settings here to best show the paint. The lighting in the underground car park was not the best for taking pictures

It was dark by the time I had finished so the shots above are the best I could capture I'm afraid.

From what I know the wheels are next for a full wheel re-furb.

I now have a large part of me that wants a 350Z, especially after spending so much time on the car.

Thanks for looking.

Paul.

Many thanks for the warm welcome.

I'll get pictures up as soon as I can and I'll pay close attention to place them up in the right place

Haven't pictured a Z before taking pictures of Cholula but I've done some photography for Total Car Magazines in the past so who knows what the future holds.

Thanks again and bye for now.

Paul.

Some good pictures there

I'm a Canon man myself, looking to purchase a new lens soon, or I may just add it to my X-Mas list

Always liked the 350 in that colour

As above

I'm interested in what colour you have went for

Nice car

Afternoon all,

Not a 350Z owner I'm afraid but in the last few days I have detailed a rather nice one so I thought that this would at least entitle me to membership of the club

Have never owned a Nissan, I'm currently on my 5th Honda now, just got myself an K24 Accord Type S after almost 4 years of ownership of an H22 Accord Type R.

Stay in a small town just outside of Edinburgh and I'm a regular on a number of other Honda, Detailing and Photography forums.

Look forward to adding some pictures of the above mentioned Z soon.

Bye for now, Paul.